Sunday, February 27, 2011

Bangalore Elevated Tollway

Back in 2005 and 2006 there were complaints galore from commuters who worked in Electronics City in Bangalore, a 300 acre electronic industrial park that is one of the largest and oldest such IT parks in the country. The commuters complained that the four-laned road to the park had become so congested that a 10 km drive from The Silk Board junction to Electronics City in rush hour could take upwards of two hours. The government, in response, decided to build an elevated tollway, 10kms long that would allow commuters to get on this tollway right after the Silk Board junction which would deposit them right outside Electronics City, without any stoplights, any intersections. A four lane dedicated corridor. This tollway was completed in early 2010. For a month or so no toll was charged, which was also the best period to get on the tollway for a joy ride.

Per the Wikipedia entry on the tollway:
The Bangalore Elevated Tollway is a 9.985 kilometers (6 mi) long elevated, tolled, access-controlled expressway in the city of Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The project is a part of the BETL (Bangalore Elevated Tollways Ltd), project as part of the National Highways Development Project and the Elevated Highways Project. It was initiated in early 2006, and was inaugurated on 22 January 2010.[1]

Per the expressay's web site , this road has been built by "a Consortium of Soma Enterprise Ltd (Soma), Nagarjuna Construction Company Limited (NCCL), and Maytas Infra Limited (Maytas)"

This photo has been taken looking north; facing the Silk Board junction. The Innova minivan and two wheelers seen in the photo are heading south, towards Electronics City.











What is interesting to note is that there is no break in the median. There is this metal barricade runs through all the way. While this has obviously been done to discourage people from getting silly and dangerous ideas about making u-turns and causing dangerous accidents. The downside is that it also becomes difficult for emergency vehicles to approach the scene of an accident or emergency from the other side of the tollway.





This is where the elevated expressway starts off on the north end, just after the Silk Board flyover:

View Larger Map

You can view some more photos at the tollway site's photo gallery.




© 2011, Abhinav Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Idiots on roads - 3

Straight off the bat, without even describing this photo, let me tell you there are two idiots in this photo. One you see, the other you don't. The other idiot you don't see in this photo would be me, who took this photo.
So, where is this photo from? This is from highway NH206, to Jog Falls. The Mahindra Bolero here (I think it is a Bolero) is being used as a taxi. The genius riding half in, half out, or actually mostly out, is likely an employee for the taxi operator. He has probably done this a thousand times before, this riding in this manner with the vehicle. I don't need to elaborate why I think he is an idiot.

Why am I an idiot? Well, several reasons. Because I am operating a camera while driving. While driving on a highway. Driving so close to this idiot on a car that if he were to slip, well... the end-results would be messy.


© 2011, Abhinav Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Amazon.com Best of 2010 - Books

We love lists. I posted a list of the best books I read in 2010.
Amazon knows that we love lists. Every year for the past several years they have published such lists at the end of each year. Last year's (that would be 2010) lists have been published by Amazon.

Here is the link to their 2010 page - Best of 2010: Books

Here are some lists from their many, many lists:

Top 100 Editors' Picks
(I have listed only 10 here)
Books:
  1. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
  2. Faithful Place: A Novel
  3. Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War
  4. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
  5. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
  6. Freedom: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club)
  7. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
  8. To the End of the Land
  9. Just Kids
  10. The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

Kindle Versions:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks  Faithful Place: A Novel Matterhorn Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration Freedom: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club)  The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest To the End of the Land Just Kids The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine


Top 100 Customer Picks
(I have listed only 10 here)
  1. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
  2. (Hardcover, 2010) Women, Food, and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything (Hardcover, 2010)
  3. Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games)
  4. Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 10)
  5. The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
  6. Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime
  7. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella (Twilight Saga) (Hardcover)
  8. Freedom: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club)
  9. Sh*t My Dad Says
  10. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Kindle Versions:
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest Women Food and God Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games) Dead in the Family: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime  The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella Freedom: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club) Sh*t My Dad Says The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks


Top 10 Books: Business & Investing
Editor's Picks:
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine Switch(Switch:How to Change Things When Change Is Hard)(Hardcover)(2010)byHeath &byHeath The Art of Choosing The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires (Borzoi Books) Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at HomeWhen I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead: Useful Stories from a Persuasive ManAppetite for America: How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire That Civilized the Wild West

Editor Picks: Kindle e-books:
  1. The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine 
  2. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
  3. The Art of Choosing
  4. The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires
  5. Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation
  6. Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy
  7. No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller
  8. The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home
  9. When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead: Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man
  10. Appetite for America: How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire That Civilized the Wild West

Customer Favorites:
  1. The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine 
  2. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
  3. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
  4. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
  5. Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
  6. The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness (3rd Edition Revised and Updated)
  7. On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System
  8. Doing Both: How Cisco Captures Today's Profit and Drives Tomorrow's Growth
  9. 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown

The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness (3rd Edition Revised and Updated) Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? Drive Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System Doing Both: How Cisco Captures Today's Profit and Drives Tomorrow's Growth 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown


Top 10 Books: Science
Editor's Picks
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality The Grand Design The Mind's Eye The Evolution of Childhood: Relationships, Emotion, Mind Long for This World: The Strange Science of Immortality Here's Looking at Euclid: A Surprising Excursion Through the Astonishing World of Math


Editor's Picks: Kindle e-books
  1. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
  2. Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void
  3. The Emperor of All Maladies
  4. The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
  5. Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality
  6. The Grand Design
  7. The Mind's Eye
  8. Long for This World: The Strange Science of Immortality

© 2010, Abhinav Agarwal. All rights reserved.